Rayne High defense halts Abbeville, 45-7

By Lisa Soileaux

Assistant Editor

ABBEVILLE - The Rayne High Wolves warmed up for the start of district play Friday with a 45-7 win over the Abbeville Wildcats.

The Rayne defense limited the Wildcats to less than 100 offensive yards on the night, seeing the Wolves clicking on all cylinders of all aspects of the game, especially their defense.

The Wolves took the opening kickoff on the 21-yard line where Javon Cormier nudged his way behind a couple of key blocks on the first play and hit the sideline for a quick score on a 79-yard return. Ty Delahoussaye added the extra point for a 7-0 Rayne lead with only 18 seconds off the clock.

The second quarter was the 12 minutes of doom for the Wildcats as the Wolves recorded four touchdowns in addition to forcing not one, but two safeties for a 39-0 lead at the half.

Rayne’s first score of the half came on a Tyler LeJeune 6-yard touchdown pass to Trent Duhon. The 42-yard drive included key runs by Mouton, Byron Mouton and Javon Cormier.

On a deep Delahoussaye punt, the Wildcats were forced to begin their drive deep in their own territory. In addition to a holding call, Abbeville quarterback Bryce Melancon attempted to make a pass inside their 10-yard line, where the Rayne defense forced him out of his own endzone for a safety and a 16-0 Rayne lead.

On Rayne’s very next drive, LeJeune found Byron Mouton for a 48-yard touchdown pass. The PAT by Delahoussaye was good and the Wolves saw their lead stretched to 23-0.

Delahoussaye booted a 55-yard kickoff placing Abbeville once again deep on their own end of the field. A bad snap then forced Melancon to scramble to recover the football in the Rayne endzone, scoring another safety for Rayne, extending their lead to 25-0 with an additional seven minutes remaining in the first half of play.

Those last few minutes of the first half saw Trent Duhon punch in a one-yard TD run off a 79-yard drive. Delahoussaye split the uprights for another extra point and a 32-0 Rayne lead.

On Abbeville’s last drive of the first half, another bad snap caused an Abbeville fumble recovered by Wolf Andrew Broussard near the goal line. Grant Abshire touched the endzone for Rayne’s last score of the first half. Delahoussaye kicked another extra point for a 39-0 lead as the first half ended.

The third quarter saw Delahoussaye boot two fieldgoals, both from 39 yards out, for a 45-0 lead going into the final quarter of action.

The lone score in the fourth quarter saw Brennan Lombes on the scoring end of a 17-yard TD pass from Melancon. Daniel Comacho booted the extra point to end the Abbeville scoring with Rayne recording the 45-7 win.

Rayne tallied 340 offensive yards on the night, 259 of them on the ground. Leading rushing stats were Trent Duhon with 12 carries for 121 yards and one touchdown, Javon Cormier (6 carries, 110 yards, 1 TD’s), Byron Mouton (7 carries, 30 yards), Grant Menard (2 carries, 1 TD), and Jaquan Cormier, Haven Doucet and Cameron Gibson.

Tyle LeJeune led the passing attack with 81 yards on four completions to Byron Mouton (2 receptions, 64 yards, 2 TD’s), Jaylen Reed (1 reception for 10 yards) and Kameron Falcon with one completion for 7 yards.

A stingy Rayne defense was led by Donavon Cormier (8 tackles, 4 assists), Brice Meche (3.5 tkls, 3 assists), Jaquan Cormier (3), Todd Broussard (3, 2), Christian Hodges (2.5, 1), Devin Savoy 2.5, 1), nd T.J. Beard (2 and 1 interception).

Rayne will host Washington-Marion Friday at Wolf Stadium in their first district game of the season. Kick-off is 7 p.m.